Absolutely Everything
by Nynaeve1723
Summary: A little piece set right after the finale. Jordan and Woody,


DISCLAIMER: Don't own 'em, but the coup has started!

A/N: Just a little something that wouldn't leave me alone. Back to VS7.

ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING

"Woody, I…." Jordan swallowed, her gaze darting to the first rescue chopper where paramedics were loading a stretcher-bound Garret. Around her the wreckage of the plane and the snow testified to how close they'd all come to perishing.

The Boston detective reached out and cupped her face. "Go." He smiled, dimples denting the corners of his mouth. "He needs you."

Her eyes still welled with tears. "Are you… I mean-"

"Jordan. Go." He kissed her forehead. "I'll see you at the hospital."

XXXXX

Woody found her in Garret's office. When he'd gotten back to the hospital after checking in with his precinct, he'd found Dr. Macy was out of surgery and Jordan had left him a message that she was going to the Morgue. As he hurried toward her office, he noticed the light in Garret's. The door was ajar and for a moment he simply watched her, reveling in catching her in an unguarded moment, thrilling at the way the dim light played over her face and softened the tiredness in her features. How many disasters had they survived together?

She felt the weight of his gaze and looked up. Her eyes shone with more tears, these unshed, the need for grief past its immediacy, the relief palpable that those closest to her were safe.

Woody nodded toward the photo in her hand.

She smiled and turned it around for him to see. He took that for the invitation it was and crossed the space between them. She perched herself on the edge of Macy's desk and let her smile widen as Woody's brow furrowed. "He used to be quite the drummer."

Woody laughed. "I bet he loves this picture."

Jordan shrugged. "It was posted on the bulletin board a few years ago."

"Lily?" He guessed, edging closer to her, pinning her to the desk without touching her. His smile was easy and his eyes sparkling with emotion.

"Who else?" She shook her head at the memory. "He got over it."

He reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "He's going to be fine."

She nodded. "He's going to be fine." Her warm gaze returned to his. "We all are."

"Yeah," his agreement was soft and he pressed closer to her, still not touching her, all the complicated emotions of their relationship swirling around them.

"Woody…." She took a deep breath, her palms pressed tightly to the desktop. "What I said… if you're… waiting for me to say I didn't mean it-"

"You did." There was no doubt in his voice and his eyes burned into hers.

She nodded. "You… knew?"

He shrugged lightly, still smiling at her. "Jordan, you don't say things you don't mean."

Her forehead crinkled in a moment of pained confusion, old hurts renewed and fresh.

As he had done on the mountain, he cupped her face. "Sometimes it just takes you longer than other people." His thumbs brushed her cheeks. "And – And sometimes that's hard to accept."

"Woody, I'm sorry-"

"Don't be." He shook his head. "Don't be sorry, Jo. We both had chances and – and let them go."

"And now?"

Another pass of his thumbs along her cheeks. "And now we have another chance."

She blinked back fresh tears and sniffed, nodding.

He tilted up her chin and rested his forehead against hers. Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment and then stayed open, as his did. For a long moment, their gazes held, easy, quiet, loving. He lowered his mouth to her ear and murmured, "I need you. And I want you. And I love you."

She shivered slightly as much at the feel of his warm breath across her ear and over her neck as his words. Her arms slid around his neck and brought his lips down to hers. "Don't leave me," she whispered when they broke apart.

"I won't, if you won't."

She smiled and then could not stop a yawn from escaping.

"Tired?" He asked.

"Doesn't begin to cover it." She rested in his embrace a moment. "You wanna get out of here?"

"My place or yours?"

"Woody," she responded in a warning tone. "I don't think we should rush-"

"Jo, as much as I want you – and believe me, that's a lot – I'm too beat to do anything but fall asleep with my arms around you. Okay?"

After a moment, she nodded. Her gentle nudge prompted him to back up enough to let her slide next to his side. His arm went around her waist as she rested her head on his shoulder. Looking like the drained and wounded souls they were, they walked toward the elevator, Jordan having softly closed Garret's door. "Do you think it's strange that we just had a – a romantic moment in a Morgue?"

He pushed the call button before answering. "Maybe. A little."

"Just a little?"

"Yeah. Now. Six years ago, I'd've thought it was… creepy."

The elevator arrived, the doors shushing open, the car ready to deliver them one step closer to home. "What happened?"

He leaned against the back of the elevator car and pulled her against him. "You happened."

She feigned surprise and innocence. "Me?"

"You changed my view on things."

She cocked an eyebrow. "What things?"

"Everything," he told her with a smile. "Absolutely everything."

END


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